The Deepest Desire of the Heart
by weasleyfbaby
Summary: Severus and James discover their true desires during their journey through Hogwarts. You will read the story through the points of views of both characters, alternating every other chapter.
1. Chapter 1

Severus suspired deeply as he made his way onto Platform 9 3/4. This is the moment he's been waiting for; going to a school where there are others like him, where he wouldn't feel so...different. He paused, looking around for lovely Lily Evans. It would be really nice to sit with someone he knows on the train. He searched the platform for her but she was no where to be found.

Might as well get on the train, he thought. Wouldn't want to get stuck in a compartment with a bunch of twats.

Looking for a proper compartment was hopeless. He reached the last compartment and decide to settle in since there was no point in going looking through each one again.

He entered to see four lads already there; One of them was rather handsome with dark hair falling into his eyes, another with light brown hair looking as though he hadn't slept in ages, the third who seemed to resemble a fattened rat. He raised his black eyes to meet a pair of hazel ones. He was wearing glasses, his dark hair untidy sticking up at the back.

"Lost, are you?", the hazel-eyed boy said, with a mysterious smirk.

"Couldn't find a compartment.", mumbled Severus, placing himself on the seat opposite of Hazel Eyes, keeping his head down.

"Of course, looking like that, you look as if you're heads over heels to get into Slytherin.", he laughed.

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" Severus and the handsome one said at once.

Hazel Eyes laughed again. "Well, what are your names?", he asked.

"I'm Remus." said the tired one, quietly.

"Sirius!" the handsome one said.

"My name's Peter!" exclaimed the wide one, eagerly looking at James.

"Well, my name is James Potter. And you?"

It took Severus a while to realize it was Hazel Eyes that spoke. James Potter. As the name sunk in, he realized he was staring. He tried to speak but his throat was suddenly dry.

"Well, are you going to stare at me all day? I know I'm good-looking but..." James said.

"Severus! My name is Severus," he coughed out nervously, not being able to understand the boy he was looking at.

James continued to speak but Snape lost focus. His years at Hogwarts was supposed to be about him, the Dark Arts & Lily Evans, wasn't it?


	2. Chapter 2

James was still dazed as he walked into the Great Hall doors, his name still ringing in his ears. Severus Snape. Who knew gazing into a pair of black eyes could be so mesmerizing? Those eyes, filled with so much hurt, abandonment, hope, has left a lasting impression on his heart. Something no one could understand.

"Hey, look! Our Snivelly seems to be somewhat of a attraction to pretty girls. Who knew? I wonder how they find charm under all that black." Sirius howled out with laughter.

James turned to where he seemed to be looking and Sirius was right. Severus was around a group of girls particularly attached to a fair one with crimson red hair.

"Well, isn't the redhead a delight?" Sirius said again.

James just nodded in agreement, his mind somewhere else. Did he misinterpret that look earlier? he thought. Was Sev like...him or not?

The three boys were staring at James wearing confused expressions. Hurt or sadness must have shown in his eyes. Whatever it was, he blinked it away.

The sorting hat ceremony had started. Name after name was called. When he got called up, he suddenly found himself wishing to be sorted into Slytherin knowing that Severus would be there, too. As the hat yelled Gryffindor, he pulled himself together and put on his best fake smile, as he made it to his house table.

Maybe there's a chance he'll be sorted in Gryffindor as well? he thought. Oh, god, why can't I just get it him out of my head?

"Severus Snape!"

James shot up in his seat eagerly awaiting the sorting.

"Slytherin!"

The colour from James's face drained as slumped back into his seat. But as he watched Snape take his seat wearing a smile on his face, put a smile on James's face as well.

"What are you smirking at?" Sirius said with a laugh.

"Nothing. You know, just trying to figure out which Slytherin house members are going to end up in Azkaban." he grinned.

Maybe this was the way it should be. After dinner was finished and they were all sent to their dorm rooms, James got himself ready for bed. He wandered off to the window. This place was beautiful. Mum used to say that what makes a great sight even more magnificent is to share it with someone special, he thought. A spark went off in James'es head as he rushed to his things to look for his lucky Galleon.

It's what he used to always do whenever he had a hard time deciding what he truly wanted. He closed his eyes and tossed the coin, but before the coin even made it back into his hands, he suddenly knew what he was hoping for.


	3. Chapter 3

First year at Hogwarts was quicker than James had expected it to be.

Summer had ran its course and he was back in school. No matter how much he tried being friends with Severus, everything seemed to slip out his mouth the wrong way. Now everyone  
>seemed to enjoy bullying Snape, and it was because of him. Because he couldn't control his character. His best friends seemed to always be there as well, changing the direction of his<br>words, but that was going to change now.

He had gotten a cloak given to him by his family, but this wasn't just any old cloak. It turns whoever is underneath it, completely invisible. He had decided to use to cloak to get closer to  
>Severus. All he had to do was wait for the right moment.<p>

It was near Christmas time. James was feeling restless, as he did every other night. He grabbed his cloak and started to wander the corridors. He decided to return back to the dorm when  
>he heard a nearby door open. He rushed closer to where the sound was coming from. Someone seemed to enter the room and while the door was still open James rushed inside, cloak and all.<p>

The person inside was none other than Severus Snape, the boy he'd been meaning to talk to for a while. Snape rushed back to close the door and ran back to what seemed to be a  
>mirror. Before James could say anything, he saw something strange in the mirror. It was him. But he was under the cloak wasn't he? How could the mirror reflect him when he was<br>invisible? He had expected Severus to turn around and tell him to go away. James noticed something even more odd in the mirror.

It was James and Severus.

But the reflection wasn't doing what the real us were doing. That's when it hit him.

This was the Mirror of Erised. It showed nothing else than the deepest desire of the heart. His father had told him about it, but he had no idea it was still in the castle, unguarded.

James just stared at the reflection. His entire body was filled with so much emotions at that moment. Just looking at him and Severus in the mirror, he couldn't help but wonder if that day  
>could come and even more curious about what Severus saw in the mirror.<p>

Snape turned around, with an unreadable expression on his face. He turned around, looking into the mirror once more and rushed out.

Making sure he was gone, James took off his cloak and stayed in front of the mirror for the entire night. The worry of getting into trouble crossed his mind, but he dismissed it away. If he  
>couldn't have what he wanted in real life, he could atleast see the vision of it.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Snape had known that the Mirror of Erised was somewhere inside the Hogwarts castle but recently he had heard rumors where it might be.

Deep in the night he had snuck out of the Slytherin dorm to the suspected room. As he opened the door, he thought he had heard footsteps.

Just being paranoid, he thought.

He looked around the empty room and the rumors were definitely true. There was the mirror. Hesistant, he took a deep breath as stopped in front of the mirror. He looked in the mirror. He saw many things that he didn't quite understand. He was expecting to see only Lily, but instead he saw her and that boy, James Potter, both by his side. He was hoping the mirror removed his confusion between the two, but all it did was make it even worse.

After a moment or two, he heard a great intake of air. But it wasn't him. And no one else was here either. He glanced around, suspiciously, and left without another thought.


	5. Chapter 5

*OKAY SO I KNOW THIS WAS NOT THE WAY THE MAP AND EVERYTHING WAS MADE BUT IDRC I WANTED TO WRITE IT LIKE THIS OK BYE AND THANKS*

Remus had written in his letters that he had a surprise for the rest of us. Now, going back to Hogwarts, he was more eager to find out what it was more than ever.

He rushed into the last compartment on the train that has become of somewhat of a reserved spot for the four friends. Sirius and Peter were already there awaiting Remus's arrival.

"Have a good summer?" Sirius asked.  
>"Haven't you been getting my letters, Black?" he replied.<br>Sirius had just given him a knowing grin.

James awkwardly tried to change the subject.  
>"Is Moony here yet?" James asked, reffering to the nickname they'd given him when he came out about being a werewolf. Turns out the rest of them had some secrets of their own as well. Sirius was an animagus and transformed into a dog whenever he pleased. Peter turned into a rat. None of us were surprised by that one. It would explain a lot of resemblence he had with the creature. James always felt sorry for Lupin, since he had no choice in turning into a wolf anf on top of that, he'd kill all of us if we were around him on a full moon. But above all he had felt left out that he didn't have a connection to an animal to have a stronger bond to the three. Which reminded him, he had a surprise for the others as well.<p>

"Nah. You don't see any of his stuff here, now do you? It's not a full moon either. Wonder what's taking him so long." he said. "Which brings me to why you're so eager to change the subject. I'd think you'd be more proud of the fact that you're more...experienced than the rest of us, seeing that you're kind of the odd one out of the foursome."

He had told Sirius that he had met this girl on vacation that he had experienced his first real kiss, to get him off his back about his ever so infamous obsession with the one and only Severus Snape. Sirius had grown to dislike Severus a whole lot after someone found out about them brewing Polyjuice Potion to see if great old Lucius Malfoy really did have a "big one." It was just a joke and James didn't find it a problem they'd gotten into trouble. That's what made it so fun. But since Sirius had suspected Snape was being the tattle, he had added a part to Sev's nickname: Snivellus Snake. James had been defendent over Snape when Sirius had brought on the subject but that only made his case worse. Sirius, being the smart lad he was, had started to discover James's unexplicable attraction to Severus.

"Hm. Yeah, that. I've thought of something for that as well, but we have to wait for Remus before we start." he replied, absent-mindly. The compartment doors burst open.

"Sorry I'm late, you guys." Remus said, breathing heavily as if he just ran a marathon.

"You best be. You kept us all waiting for a good few minutes. Even stopped us from finding out James's big secret as well." Sirius said with a huff.

"Well, sorry to keep you waiting, Your Highness." said Remus. James and Peter let out a chuckle. He had missed Sirius and Remus's arguing. Sometimes you'd think they'd just throw themselves into each others arms and admit their love for each other.

"And what's this about you having a secret? Do tell."

"During the summer, I have managed to conjure a Patronus charm." James said, nonchalantly.

The others yelled in delight. James told them to be quiet.

"As you know, Patronus charms take the form of a animal and my animal is a deer. So, basically I kind of have some sort of a trademark creature to the best of my ability."

"That's fantastic! Brilliant, really! It couldn't be more perfect because that has something do with my surprise as well!" Remus explained, as everyone wore confused expressions on their face. "During the summer, I have come upon a map that would be able to tell us exactly where everyone is castle at everytime of everyday. I have also created it so we are able to cover up everything on the parchement so if anyone was to come across it, it would just appear as a spare piece of parchment. As to how it connects to James's news, this artifact is going to be somewhat of a piece of our friendship. Like every book has a cover, the welcome page will have all our nicknames based on what identifies us all, but something only we recognize each other as."

"I still don't understand how that connects though." Peter said slowly. The others nodded.

"Okay, see. Peter, we call you Wormtail because we know what you are a animagus that turns into a rat, reffering to your tail. Sirius, we call you Padfoot. I am known as, to my dismay, Moony because of when I change into a, well you know what. And now James's Patronus charm forms into the shape of a deer so we can decide on a name for your animal. I'm thinking of something like, 'Messrs, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and..."

"Prongs." Sirius said with a laugh, putting his fingers on his head, imitating the antlers of a deer.

"Sirius, just shut your mouth for a second, can you? I'm try-" Remus said, annoying.

"No, that's good. Really good. And it works with the catchphrase." James interjected.

"Hm, I guess you're right. So, 'Messr, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs present to you the Marauder's map." Remus concluded.

"Wow." Sirius said. They all sighed in delight. "That really is good. Well, where is this amazing map?"

"Well, I still have to work on it a bit but it should be complete by Christmas."

"Do you realize how much we'll be able to get away with? With James's cloak and the map we can do whatever we without getting caught." Sirius burst out.

James was thinking the exact same thing.


	6. Chapter 6

Another Christmas spent at Hogwarts alone. He was beginning to think he liked being alone but sometimes he just wished he could have someone to share his time with. A friend, a companion.

He saw James Potter at the Gryffindor dining table. All his friends had went home for the holidays. Along with the entire Gryffindor house. No surprise there. He had overheard that his friends was leaving something important with him. Any person would show curiousity in what it was.

James looked up from the table. Moments later, he picked up his belongings and proceed out of the Great Hall. To his own surprise, he picked up his stuff as well and followed him out. James stopped in front of the Gryffindoor dorm room.

He left something that appeared to be a cloak a couple steps in behind him.

"Well, put it on, you." James whispered.

He quickly picked up the cloak and put it on. James went closer to the door and said the password. The door opend and James went inside.

Did he want him to come inside as well? he thought. Well, he must have if he had even spoke to him.

He rushed inside as well. James was in the common room surrounded by tons of candy and other treats.

"Well, sit down." James said. Severus took his place on the seat opposite him.

"Why did you tell me to put on the cloak?" he asked.

"You haven't figured it out yet? It's an Invisibility Cloak."

"What?" Snape explained picking up the cloak and threw it over James's head. The cloak fell on top of him completely concealing and making James appear invisible.

"Yeah, pretty cool, yeah?" James said with a smirk, taking the cloak off his head and setting it on the side table beside him.

"Yeah. Cool." Snape said, flatly.

"Look, I really don't mean to come off the way I do." Snape didn't say a word.

"I understand that you don't like me. I understand why. But all I'm trying to do is be your friend." he continued. When Snape didn't say anything again, James offered him a Chocolate Frog.

"So, I heard that you got with a girl over the summer. Is she pretty?" Snape asked.

James laughed, not the mean kind of laugh, a laugh that friends shared with each other, something he had never really experienced. As James told him about how he lied about the girl, the Invisibility Cloak, his Patronus charm, Snape knew that for once, he was okay.


End file.
